Continuing on...

REAPER IN RED

Chapter 49

I could feel the shivers running up and down my body as I walked around Beacon's main grounds. I gave a little glance towards the statue at the centre of the courtyard. The one which I was sure held a huntsman and a Reaper on it. I thought it would be calming, given everything that was going on. Instead, it left me feeling even more jittery.

Which didn't help my weariness at all.

The Reaper just standing there, helping out her huntsman friend as if nothing was wrong. Well, maybe something was wrong before this 'picture' was chiseled into stone, but it all looked so heroic. Best buddies to the end.

Certainly not being chased down by an elite group of huntsmen specially tasked with killing them. Us. Why? Who knows? Well, maybe Cinder would know…

Cinder!

In a mad dash, I raced towards Cinder's office. Taking a peek inside, followed by a yawn which caught me off guard, I saw it was dark and empty. Nothing going on there. That meant she was teaching a class. Actually -I checked the time on my scroll- it meant that she was just wrapping up a class.

I speed-walked through the halls, glancing in at lecture halls, trying to find her. I didn't, but there were a lot more teachers at Beacon than I realized. Some of them were probably from the other schools coming to join us for the Vytal festival, but there were a whole bunch of classrooms.

I checked into a classroom, seeing Professor Peach giving a lecture on something to do with 'battlefield rations'.

"Spying in on a class?"

I nearly jumped out of my skin when I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Eep!" I spun around.

In front of me was a smirking set of rabbit ears. "Sorry for startling you."

"Oh, is this the first year from the cave you were talking about? Ru-what's it?" A girl wearing sunglasses in doors said.

Velvet rolled her eyes. "Ruby Rose." Her attention was back on me. "Sorry for startling you there. Just didn't expect to see you wandering the halls. Usually it's just our year and the seniors. Oh, let me introduce you to my team. Ruby, this is my partner and team leader, Coco. Behind her is Fox and the big, softy is Yatsuhashi."

"Call me Yatsu."

I nodded along at her introductions. My mind was still racing from the previous class that it took me a moment to remember that I should probably be saying something.

"Nice to meet you. All. Nice to meet you all." My agitation seemed super apparent.

"How are you doing? Actually, what are you doing here?" Velvet asked. "Not to say I'm not glad to bump into you again, but we don't see many under-years walking around here. Unless it's to take a peek in on Miss Fall's class."

"Total hottie," Coco confirmed with an appreciative nod.

"So?"

I blushed in spite of myself. Calm down Ruby! This was not the time to act all human-y! "I'm looking for Cinder… erm- Miss Fall."

Coco smirked. "Called it. Totally had her pegged as one of the club."

"Club?" I frowned. Had I recently joined a club?

"Guess not. No rush in figuring yourself out."

I shook off that line of conversation. "So, do you know where she is?"

Velvet shrugged. "Last I heard, she was teaching. Yatsu? That was your class, right?"

The giant of a man nodded slowly. "Yes. She was teaching. Partway through a sentence she stood up and then rushed out of the room. She ended class quite early."

"Odd," Coco muttered.

"Any idea where she went?" I asked. Or maybe pleaded. Begged. I don't know. I just really needed to find her and tell her about the Reaper Hunter who was wandering the school. And was my… uncle? Uncle-in-spirit? I settled on uncle-adjacent.

Yatsu shook his head. "I assumed she went to her office. Or a meeting with the headmaster." He shrugged, a little apologetic smile on his lips. "I wish I could help more."

"Thank you!" I shouted. Headmaster Ozpin's office! Why didn't I think of that? I had to get there quickly before Qrow got there. I couldn't live with myself if I didn't warn Cinder about an evil Reaper Hunter roaming around the school.

If I remembered our earlier conversations, I don't think that she'd help me with him, but I could still help her, right? That was the nice thing to do. And there was still so much I wanted to learn from her. So, technically it was still self-preservation, right?

With a very quick "goodbye" to Velvet and the rest of team CFVY, I dashed out towards the headmaster's office.

Of course Headmaster Ozpin had to have an office at the top of the tallest building on campus. I'm so glad I chose my 'semblance' to be speed because the elevators are just so slow. I raced up the flights of stairs, leaving shadowy petals behind me in a scattered trail. Up thirty five stairs, twist around the corner and then up fifteen more. Repeated as needed until I couldn't go any further.

There were just so many floors.

So many.

As I rounded another corner, nearly barging into another student –"hey!" I think she gasped- I shot up the stairs, unsure if I even touched them.

I was breathing heavily. That had taken a lot more out of me then I had expected it to. I wiped away liquid from my forehead.

Why was my forehead melting? And my heart? It was pounding desperately in my chest. I continued forward, up the next flight of stairs. Deciding it best to stop using magic for a moment.

That was a bad plan.

Bad plan Ruby. Very bad plan. I gripped the railing, pulling myself up each step in sheer agony.

"I thought-" huff. "I was-" pant. "In better shape-" gasp. "Than this."

"Miss Rose!"

I yelped, nearly falling back down the flight of stairs I had just managed to climb.

In front of me was a clearly confused looking headmaster; half his body out of his office, a set of keys in one hand and his cane in the other. Tucking his keys into his coat pocket, he beckoned me towards him.

"It is not often that I get students so desperate to see me that they choose the stairs over our perfectly fine elevators."

"Wasn't… fast… enough."

He chuckled. "I see. Come, I shall make you some tea while you catch your breath."

"But-"

"There is no need to worry Miss Rose. Only those that I allow may enter my office without permission."

Without another word, he went back inside. He didn't even look to check if I was following him.

Well, I was, but it would have been nice to have him doubt that fact. He knew I as a big, scary Reaper after all.

Wait, did that mean he knew that I was older than him? Did I have seniority? Could I tell him to respect his elders? Yang would find that hilarious.

And back to more anxiety inducing thoughts.

"Qrow Branwen!" I all but squawked.

Headmaster Ozpin looked up from his electric kettle. "Indeed. Please take a seat."

I did.

My foot tapped impatiently. I almost didn't realize I had picked up the strange human quirk, but it fascinated me how natural it felt. I was tense, but the headmaster was just moving languidly as he poured two cups of tea, setting one gently down in front of me, and bringing the other to his side of the desk.

"What seems to be the problem?" He asked with his small, little smile.

What was wrong? What was Wrong?! There was a Reaper Hunter in this school! No, even more importantly, there was the very Reaper Hunter that killed mom. I was fuming. But, the headmaster's calm demeanour was stealing away some of my vocal thunder.

Oh, I had stopped panting. When did that happen?

"Qrow Branwen was in my class."

Ozpin nodded once. "He was."

"Why is that… he here? Why is he here?"

"He was returning your teammate to you, if I remember correctly."

I blanched. "Blake brought him?"

Oh no. This as super bad. Did I make the biggest mistake of my life in telling Blake about me?

Was she going to tell Yang and Weiss?

That would be bad. Like, horrifically bad.

"I believe it would be more appropriate to say that Qrow brought Blake."

I shuffled my feet. "What do I do?"

"I believe there is nothing to worry about. You are a human after all, and semi-retired Reaper Hunters tend to only hunt Grim Reapers if I'm not mistaken. Well, all Reaper variants I should say." He had the audacity to smirk.

"Where's Cinder?"

He checked his watch. "I believe she should be here-"

The door slammed open behind me. I spun around to see a panicked Cinder Fall.

"Cinder!" I shouted.

"Ruby!" She gasped.

"-now." Ozpin said, finishing his thought.

Cinder didn't look tired at all as she strode purposefully towards me, gripping my chin and looking me over like a concerned mother.

"Are you alright? Did he hurt you? Did he find you?"

With all the questions and clear worry, I could only look at her, wide-eyed and definitely in shock.

This person didn't sound like Cinder Fall at all. Where was the cryptic speech? Where was the underlying, hidden messages in her statements? Why was she clearly worried for me?

"Are… are you okay Cinder?"

Cinder paused, coughing and taking a step back to fix her dress. "Ahem- yes. I am quite alright little one."

"Were you… worried about me?"

"Of course I was worried!" She let out. I wasn't sure if she sounded angry, frustrated, hurt or all three. "I had expected a Hunter to be here eventually, but this was too soon."

"Wait, you knew he was coming?" My heart started pounding as I subconsciously pulled some magic from my boundary, prepared to use it.

"Miss Rose, you are releasing huge quantities of magic into the surroundings, in an area filled with people. All of them with their auras unlocked and not a small amount of them with some form of advanced aura manipulation training." Ozpin began explaining as my attention spun to him. "It would be foolhardy to assume that nobody would connect issues with their aura to a Reaper claiming Her territory."

"…What?"

What?

Cinder reached into her dress's pocket -because of course someone as awesome as her would have a dress with pockets. I've been acting as a human long enough to know that pockets were a magical invention- and pulled out a small box. She handed it to me.

"Put these on," she all but commanded.

Opening the lid, I saw two small, thin pieces of… plastic? Glass? Something, with a copper ring in the middle of each piece.

"…What?"

What?

"They're contacts. They go in your eyes to change your eye colour." Cinder's explanation didn't alleviate any of my confusion.

"One thing at a time please?"

As headmaster Ozpin opened his mouth, Cinder waved a hand, silencing him. "Contacts are more important in this instance." She turned to look at me.

I just noticed that her eyes looked green. "Contacts change your eye colour. They aren't a complete giveaway, since some humans have grey eyes, but to an experienced Reaper Hunter, it is best to take as few risks as possible."

I looked at the contacts, then back at Cinder. Then back at the contacts.

"How?"

Cinder smiled her Cinder-y smile. Finally something that was familiar! She was acting too different -not that I was complaining too much- to be considered her normal. I'd have to ask about that later. Protecting myself from Qrow Branwen seemed to be a little more important.

"I'll help."

Suffice it to say, contacts are not pleasant and whoever invented them is a psychopath. Who puts things in their eyes for fun?! Scratching at the corner of my eyes, blinking madly and trying to get used to the foreign material now on me, I let the headmaster explain the whole magic situation.

"Aura that we as people possess is often considered to be an outward manifestation of our very souls," Ozpin began. "When explained this way, it makes sense to the less knowledgeable. Our emotions are heightened. As are our reflexes. It is said that a healthy soul leads to a healthy mind and thus a healthy body. Our aura protects us and heals us in turn. This idea makes logical sense when we factor in the Grimm into this conversation. They hunt humans and faunus by way of our emotions, generally the more negative ones. As such, huntsmen with their heightened emotions are more susceptible to attack.

"But a human's soul is something internal. It is likely just an idea, rather than a truly real thing. I personally consider it to be our spark of consciousness, but alas, that is something for philosophers to debate, rather than us mere mortals."

"Reapers believe that a human soul is their life's essence," Cinder added. I nodded along. "Souls are where humans store their thoughts, their histories, and most importantly for us, the time of their demise. Grim Reapers feed off those souls. The energy released from us separating the ties of the soul from the body is enough to empower us. And as it is a human soul, or a soul of a fully mortal being, we take on their traits. I know your mother taught you my jingle."

"Your jingle?"

"First, heat from the sun shining bright, then the colours of reflected light. The skin feels clammy, the days wash away. Everything tastes yucky, souls come out to play."

I stared at Cinder, wide eyed as she repeated the familiar jingle. My mom had taught it to me. More than that, she had sung it to me time and time again from when I was very young.

The song was Cinder's?

Cinder's smirk was sly, hinting at millennia of untold knowledge.

"You have much to learn, little one. And I still have much to teach you."

Split chapter! I did not expect for such a long conversation between everyone, but I think it's about time for us to learn a little bit more about Cinder and Ozpin. Not too much though. Can't give away all my tricks. :P

Dragonqueen1993 - I feel so bad for Ruby too. Things are just not easy for her, are they.

Alucard45 - All I can say about the Qrow is Ruby's father trope, is: Read my story 'Is Qrow Ruby's Dad?' As for Reapers themselves, there is a lot of stuff at work in the background. There are a whole smattering of hints which may help explain some things and why there is this huge division. But, it is definitely something that will be fully explained throughout the rest of the story.

TM Calypso - Sorry for all the cliffhangers! (And this one too!)

firewyrm2 - Same length as always. Of course, there is a time and place to have a confrontation, but right in the middle of class, against a Reaper Hunter, while surrounded by huntsmen-in-training, is definitely not one of them. Especially when said Reaper Hunter killed your mother.

Dragon Lord Draco - You can't see it, but I'm doing the Mister Burns, "excellent" thing. (Simpsons)

zharshoul - I've never read the dead like me series, so I can't say anything about that. But, one of your answers is on the right track. And you will definitely be seeing more of the lore explaining everything in this.

Menirx - Thank you! So glad you enjoyed the binge!

Seed of Bismuth - See you again soon!

Ninguem248 - A healthy dose of fear is always good. :P

CrownofIron - Mind wipes involve going into a person's mind and changing, creating or deleting memories. It can be resisted, so it is easiest when a person is asleep. Technically, she already used it on Yang.

lievseb - Glad you're enjoying it! I don't plan on stopping anytime soon *crosses fingers and knocks on wood* (also, it's sis)